Christie’s Inaugurates Swanky New Hong Kong Headquarters with $134 M. Evening Sale with Mixed Results

The much-anticipated inaugural sales at Christie’s new Asia Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong kicked off Thursday with a 20th/21st century art evening sale that achieved a total, with fees, of just over $1 billion Hong Kong dollars, or about $134 million. The hammer total for the evening was HK$883.1 million ($113.4 million). Located in The Henderson, the recently completed Zaha Hadid Architects-designed skyscraper in the city’s central business district, the sale saw a restrained mood from buyers—echoed in the mixed results—even as there was a palpable curiosity and excitement about the new venue.

“I felt a sense of mild, soft enthusiasm for several significant artworks,” art adviser Mathieu Ticolat, of Ticolat Tamura, told ARTnews after the sale. “A notable readjustment in prices was evident for specific pieces, with a discernible change in the behavior of Chinese and Asian buyers compared to previous auctions.”

Indeed, buyers appeared more cautious with their bids than in years past, likely in recognition of ongoing uncertainties in both the global economy, and more specifically in China and the region. Still, the room was very full, no doubt for attendees to get a look inside the swanky, curvilinear, slightly bottle-like new building, which has Hadid’s signature organic and futuristic forms. Christie’s new headquarters takes up four of the building’s 36 floors. At night, two of the floors are lit up in Christie’s red, with the house’s name emblazoned in bright white. There’s no missing it from the street.

The new headquarters come with a significant expansion of operations in the region for Christie’s, which will now hold auctions in Hong Kong year-round. (In years past, the auction house would cram in a packed schedule of marquee sales during two weeks in spring and autumn at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.) The house will also have galleries, exhibition space, a lounge for clients, and the Eskenazi Art Historical Library, with 1,200 rare art books donated by art dealer Giuseppe Eskenazi.

Thursday’s evening sale, led by auctioneers Adrien Meyer and Georgina Hilton, was headed by several works by blue-chip Western masters, including Claude Monet’s Nymphéas, a water lily painting coming to the market for the first time and Vincent Van Gogh’s 1887 painting Les canots amarrés, last sold at Sotheby’s London in 1991. The Monet hammered at HK$200 million (US$25.7 millions before fees) on an estimate of HK$200-280 million, while the Van Gogh hammered at HK$ 215 million (US$27.6 million before fees,) against an estimate of HK$230-380 million. While both represented auction records for Christie’s for these artists in Asia, the sale prices were close to or below the low estimate for both.

Those works were accompanied by several important pieces from top Asian modern and contemporary artists, some of which achieved new records for those artists, which added excitement to the otherwise cautious auction performance. While there was prudence across the board, it was most noticeable with Chinese collectors in the room, according to Ticolat.

“Chinese buyers appeared less eager and extravagant, displaying a high level of price-consciousness,” Ticolat observed. “Their cautious approach towards pricing was evident as they refrained from overbidding regardless of the circumstances. This trend suggests a strong emphasis on price awareness, indicating a general inclination towards careful and prudent spending, prioritizing realistic and reduced prices in their acquisitions.”

Ticolat added that the increased prudence was a sign of a “healthier market” that had needed “some re-adjustments.”

That cautious approach, however, explains the results for the Van Gogh and the Monet, among others, despite the warm and excited atmosphere in the room. As those works were brought to the floor for a last view, the room erupted into applause and attendees raised their phones in the air to snap a final photo. And yet, the sales remained relatively lackluster.

One of the most surprising results of the night was for Filipino artist Ronald Ventura’s 2021 oil painting State of Bloom, which features Ventura’s signature mixing of science-fiction, cartoons, machinery, street views, post-apocalyptic ruins and traditional Asian symbols (in this instance, a very detailed, Chinese-style coiled dragon that hangs on a side of the painting, as if floating among the palms). The work sold for a record HK$36.6 million (US$4.7 million, before fees,) to a Singaporean collector on the phone with Cristian Albu, Christie’s deputy chairman and head of contemporary art, Asia Pacific. That was many times the pre-sale estimate of HK$1.8 to HK$2.8 million ($230,000 to $450,000).

Jenny Lok, an auctioneer for Poly auction house who had also been bidding on the Ventura work for a client, told ARTnews that the auction was “actually very good, everyone was very serious and excited about this inaugural sale, and the whole art world sees a lot in this local expansion.”.

Another record was set by a rare and appealing large Kim Whan-ki (1913-1974,) a beloved member of the Korean dansaekhwa movement. His painting in shades of blue titled 9-XII-71 #216 (1971) sold to a collector in Korea over the phone with Christie’s Seoul general manager Hak Jun Lee, for a hammer price of HK$46 millions ($900,000). Zao Wou-ki’s 05.06.80 – Tryptique, 1980 work painted in France, sold for HK$80 million ($10.2 million) to a phone buyer represented by Eric Chang, chairman for Asian 20th century and contemporary art at Christie’s Hong Kong. That price was only slightly above the low estimate of HK$78 million. Other Asian artists such as Lalan, Tang Chang, Mehdi Ghadyanloo, Rhee Seundja, and Damrong Wong-Uparaj also achieved world records for those artists. Non-Asian artists to achieve records included French painter Alix Aymé (1894-1989, who lived in China and Vietnam and painted Asian themes) and Los Angeles-based artist Lucy Bull (b. 1990). Bull’s 2021 painting 18:50 hammered at HK$15 million before fees ($1.93 million), tripling its pre-sale estimate of HK$5-8 million.

Francis Belin, president of Christie’s Asia, said after the sale that the results “demonstrate resilience in this market” and added that 93 percent of the 43 lots sold and nine works achieved world auction records.

It’s worth comparing the 20^th/21^st Century sale to Au Bak Ling Collection sale earlier in the day, which had 19 pieces of Chinese imperial ceramics hit the block. Au Bak Ling (1928-2019) was one of Hong Kong’s best-known philanthropists and publishers, and a passionate collector of imperial Chinese ceramics since the mid ‘70s. Nearly all 19 pieces sold for record prices, at times for more than double the highest pre-sale estimates. Rare items such as a 10-inch-tall Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) yuhuchunping blue and white pear-shaped bottle vase with floral designs, from the Yongle emperor period (r 1402-1424) sold for HK$27.6 million after fees (US$3.54 million)—the highest price achieved of the 19 pieces—following fierce bidding. The second highest price was achieved by a very rare Qing Dynasty (1636-1911) anbaxian vase from the Qianlong emperor period (r 1735-1796) which fetched more than double the high estimate price, at HK$10.3 million ($1.32 million after fees,) obtained by an online buyer.

While Chinese and Asia-based buyers may be exercising greater caution during this slowing economy, particularly with modern and contemporary art, some will still splurge for the right ceramic jewel with impeccable provenance.